Double Take
Chapter 36
“I am the scent that he will follow always, hunting for God.”
—Olaf Stapledon, Sirius: A Fantasy of Love and Discord
WORKING AT JOAN’S HOUSE on Saturday was hard. Especially when she got off my lap and sat in a chair where Beca could settle on top of her. Desi captured my lap before Rachel could move, earning her a scowl from my other girlfriend. Desi smirked.
“My pussy is no more available than yours today,” Desi taunted Rachel. “But there’s no reason we can’t torment you about it. Both of you.” She wiggled on my lap, making sure my erection was firmly wedged in her ass crack. The little shorts she was wearing—what in the old days I thought of as gym shorts but now were trimmed out with lace and considered quite fashionable—were worn with a tank top pulled down over the waistband until her butt pushed it back up again. It wasn’t indecent, but from my view of about three inches, her popped out nipples were unrestrained and poking a bigger tent in the shirt than I’d popped in my jeans.
And they were at a perfectly tempting place.
“Ow!” Desi screeched as Rachel pulled her hands back from having pinched the two prominent beacons. Desi folded her arms over her chest and stuck out her lower lip. “You’re mean. I was just playing.”
“Oh, poor baby. Did it really hurt? I didn’t mean to really hurt you,” Rachel was getting closer and closer to Desi’s prodigious chest and Desi was shrinking back against me. “Really, baby. Let me kiss and make them better.” She gripped Desi’s shirt and slowly worked it up over the massive mammaries. “Jacob, hold them still for me while I make sure the owie is all gone.” What could I do? I wrapped my fingers around those beautiful tits and held them up for Rachel to tongue. Desi moaned and laid her head back on my shoulder. I kissed her ear. “See? It’s so much better when we play together, isn’t it?” Rachel purred. Desi kept whining while I weighed her breasts in my hands and Rachel seriously sucked on one and then the other.
I glanced up and saw Beca and Joan kissing but Beca’s eyes were wide open and fixed on Desi’s breasts. She pulled back.
“Um… Make-out break is over,” Beca squeaked, pulling Joan’s hands away from her own budding breasts. “We need to finish the expanded outline so we can present it to Mr. Richards Monday afternoon.” Rachel pulled Desi’s shirt back down and eventually, I had to pull my hands away. I was thinking some very inappropriate thoughts about what to do with those beautiful tits wrapped around my old man cock.
Yeah. That sucked big time. I could close my eyes and see the fantasy of titty-fucking Desi, but the cock I saw was wrinkled and surrounded by gray hairs, not the proud fifteen-year-old cock that was poking her in the butt. I was going to get arrested.
“Okay,” Beca continued. “Before our little playtime break, we’d moved all the way to bullet point two. Jacob, paragraph, please.”
“Uh… Right. The gathering of groups shows both an awareness of and subtle rearrangement of the landscape as well as a gathering of similar people. The first illustration shows racial divisions within the populace and how those groups cluster together. The second illustration shows social divisions along common interest lines like sports, art, drama, science, money, and drugs.” We laughed, but we’d seen it happening. We weren’t tossing in things that couldn’t be defended by using the videos.
25 March 2019
I played Moonlight Sonata last night. I know, big deal. It’s a simple piece, mostly. Requires a rhythm fingering on the lower strings with a melody on the upper. But left hand fingering is all chords that the right hand fingers. The thing is that I read it from the music as I played. Yes, I’ve been practicing a lot so I might be able to play it from memory. But instead of doing that, I stayed focused on the music and let my fingers move according to what I was seeing rather than be disconnected and not knowing where the music came from.
It was almost the same as skating Friday night. Once I got my head memories in touch with my feet, it was easy. Until I got all shaky and realized I’d overworked my muscles. Have to talk to Jock about that when I get to school this morning.
I know this sounds like I’m making a big deal out of nothing, but it just makes me feel incredibly good that I’m getting body and soul together. Most of the time. Dealing with my girlfriends sometimes busts me into a bunch of pieces and I completely lose track of who and when I am.
But most of the time. Most of the time I’m feeling like a whole person again. Or maybe for the first time in my life.
Martin had joined us to study Sunday afternoon and it was okay. Not sure what he was expecting, but I detected that he’d had a shower before he came over for which I was thankful. We’d all studied our separate subjects. He pretty much ignored Desi, Beca, and me. I was in his geometry class but the other two freshmen had no class overlap with him. He had another class with Rachel and was in some computer class with Joan.
As soon as Em and I got to school Monday morning, I caught up with Jock and explained that I’d overdone it on the weekend. My legs were still sore from skating. He had me walk the gym floor slowly, watching my pace and structure. Then he pointed to a chart of stretches and told me to work my way slowly through the first ten. I didn’t know what stretching my triceps was supposed to do for my sore legs, but I did all the stretches and then he told me to get on the treadmill and hold an even twenty-minute mile for forty minutes. It took me a little bit to get to speed but once I was at the three-mile-an-hour pace, I reset the timer and spaced out.
Outer space. Walking like this was a great time to start listening to my characters for my sci-fi short story. I was beginning to see how the social structure was forming and kept seeing how the principles of Human Geography kept directing people around the ship. I started to visualize the spherical ship and the deck levels. I needed to know where things were on the ship. What level is navigation on? Where is the cafeteria? Is there a gym? What is on the ship for entertainment? I didn’t need to do detailed maps of Athena I, all I needed to do was know a few relative positions so I could tell if a character needed to go to a different deck for a different activity and roughly how many square kilometers of space there were on the total ship. Which led me back to geometry and the surface area of a sphere, which was today’s lesson.
I was startled when the treadmill started slowing down for a five-minute cool down. I got my shower and headed off to second period Human Geography. Beca and I set our appointment to meet with Mr. Richards after school.
Last week lunches were pretty overwhelming with Joan cosplaying and trolling me every day. I was looking forward to something more relaxing this week. That wasn’t what I got. I was seated with three of my girlfriends when Rachel entered the cafeteria. I almost didn’t recognize her except the dress and jeans jacket she was wearing were the same as the first day she spoke to me. She was wearing a big round pair of sunglasses and carried her lunch tray like she didn’t know where anything in the cafeteria was and she was looking for a place to sit.
“Damsel in distress,” Beca whispered. “Go be a nice guy and offer to sit with her at lunch.”
“Here?” I squeaked as I stood.
“Of course here, idiot!”
I moved over to where Rachel was looking at a seat at a table of jocks.
“Hey, you look lost.”
“I’m new,” she sighed. “Just trying to find my way around.”
“Why don’t you join my friends and me for lunch.” I pointed at the table. “Don’t worry, most of my friends are girls.”
“That’s a relief. I wasn’t sure about sitting between a couple of football jocks.”
“Where are you from?” I asked. I was finally understanding that where Joan was doing a cosplay, Rachel had her own roleplaying fantasy worked out. I tried to keep up.
“Oh. I just transferred in from Roosevelt High. My dad got moved in his job and our old house was too far away for his commute so we got a new one and I had to change schools.”
“That sucks. Right in the middle of the semester,” I said.
“Yeah. I left all my friends and I don’t know anyone here. What am I going to do?” she cried.
“Hey, you know us now. We’re pretty friendly people. This is Joan and Rebeca with one c and Desi. Oh, and I’m Jacob. We’d love to have you join us. What’s your class schedule like?”
Rachel was fully prepared. She pulled out a crumpled sheet that I recognized as an actual class schedule. I’d carried one around on the first day of the semester as well.
“Oh, we’ve got Geometry together. I can walk you there after lunch.”
And thus began my ‘get to know Rachel’ week.
“So, who are these other people,” Mr. Richards asked when we handed him our outline.
“We discovered that a project this size needed more than the two of us,” I answered. “We needed a team and these people volunteered.”
“As Jacob pointed out early on, we had nearly eighty hours, just of video to look at,” Beca said. “After looking at the video, Jacob and I had to start collating the data and formulate our conclusions. Then develop the outline that we’ve presented to you here. We still have to focus on writing the full report.”
“And what do you do?” he asked, turning to Desi.
“I make coffee,” she giggled. “I’m kind of least on the team but I help in watching the videos and reviewing notes to see if there is multiple mention of anything on a day-by-day basis.”
“Sounds valuable. And you?” he asked turning to Rachel.
“Well, Desi might think she’s lowest on the totem pole but that’s only because she was the last to join,” Rachel answered. “We’ve all spent pretty much every Saturday afternoon this semester in front of the TV watching a repeat of the day before. We all made suggestions about things we noticed. Mostly, for me, it’s been saying things like, ‘You really want to run down that rabbit hole?’ or ‘It’s an AP report, not a dissertation.’ Left to their own devices, Jacob and Beca would have taken ten months and proposed a unified theory of the universe and everything.”
“Valuable contribution. Every project needs a manager. And you?” he asked Joan.
“I’m an animator. Looking at actual video is confusing. It’s nice to get an overview, but based on what Jacob and Beca have identified as the movements they want to track, I am generating an animation of colored dots that illustrate their points,” Joan said. “Oh, and I’m learning a lot so I can do the AP retake of this class next year.”
“Okay. I’ll reserve judgment on the effectiveness of each of your roles until the project is finished. Do any of you feel you are doing work that should be done by Jacob and Beca?” There were multiple headshakes. “Good. Then let’s look at the outline.”
Our meeting with Richards lasted a full hour. When we finished, we all loaded into Rachel’s car and we dropped off our girlfriends before we got to my house. I knew Em was in the house with Pey but I unfastened my seatbelt and turned to Rachel to kiss her. She stopped me with a hand on my chest.
“It was really nice of you to show me around school today, Jacob. I’d have never caught up to where we were in geometry without your help. Um… Would it be presumptuous of me to join you and your friends again for lunch tomorrow?”
Oh, shit! She wanted to continue this little game even when we were together. It hadn’t been two weeks since I had my hand up her shirt with her bra pushed out of the way. Still, girls can have fun games, even if they are frustrating. I decided very quickly that life would be better for me if I played hers.
“It was fun to get to know you, Rachel,” I said. “We’d all love it if you sat with us tomorrow. Me especially.” She raised an eyebrow toward me. “I mean, I love to meet new people and get to know them. I find it fascinating.” Yeah. How lame was that?
“Well, I’ll see you tomorrow in school then,” she said. “Bye, Jacob.” I got out of the car and Rachel left. I just stood there on the driveway staring for a few minutes before I managed to get myself collected and go inside.
28 March 2019
Well, as they say, ‘Women have half the votes and all the pussy.’ Men do what they say if they know what’s good for them. And I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, just that I’m feeling a little bit pussy-whipped.
It’s not just that Rachel has been playing the ‘new girl in town’ game. I’ve actually kind of enjoyed that. I found out, for example, that she likes to shoot! Of course, that’s not an activity we can do together without parental supervision, but it’s a pretty cool thing about her. Her little brother is some kind of Little League superstar and she goes to cheer him at every game. Someday she wants to be president… of a cosmetics or fashion firm, so she can influence the marketing message delivered to girls about how they need to look and why.
Rachel has an opinion on everything. I can debate her on different topics but if I challenge her, I’d better have my facts straight. So, I end up pushing a virtual pause button on potential disagreements and go look things up so I can verify my facts and make a cogent argument. So, I guess you could say, I’m learning from her, too.
Rachel’s game is great. The problem is with the other girlfriends. They are acting as though Rachel is new in town, too, and are trying to get her involved in all the girl stuff. They all said goodbye to me after school yesterday and took Rachel to the mall to go shopping. I had to run and catch the bus. It seems like they are trying to keep us from being in a situation where we might drop the newcomer roles.
Still, it’s for Rachel. Even if this goes on for a while, I’m enjoying it. Rachel makes me forget how old I am.
“Your appointment is Saturday morning,” Mom told Em at the table. “You’ve put this off long enough.”
“I’ve been busy.” Mom scowled at my sister. “Okay, okay. I’ll do it.”
“What kind of appointment?” Pey asked. She could get away with that. I’d be smacked for nosing into my sister’s business.
“The new birth control law,” Em said. “I have to have a GI before I enter National Service and they want it done as soon after you turn eighteen as possible. Next year the age moves down to within six months of your sixteenth birthday. So, get ready, J.”
“What’s GI?” Pey asked.
“Short for Government Implant. It’s birth control issued by the government. The nice part is it’s free so I don’t have to pay for pills any longer.”
“I’m supposed to get one?” I asked. “They have birth control for men? Why?”
“Of course you do, dear,” Mom said. “The objective is to move toward zero pregnancy and parenthood before the completion of National Service. Before Pey gets there, mandatory birth control will be in place for everyone over the age of twelve until they have completed their National Service. It will totally eliminate teen pregnancy. Like your friend, Francine’s. I know she loves her baby and that you are enthralled with her, Emily. But life would be so much better for her if she hadn’t gotten pregnant. Now she’ll have to leave her baby with her parents or in child care until she finishes her two years’ service.”
I thought about the implications. Yes, stopping teen pregnancy was a good thing, especially if it cut down the number of single mothers. I could remember V1 quipping that girls needed to keep their legs together if they ever wanted to succeed in the world. They’d never do it with a brat hanging from their tits. God! I was an asshole.
“Maybe I should just have it done now,” I said. “I mean, could I go in with Em?”
“Why? Are you having sex with someone?” Dad asked. Shit!
“Uh… not now, sir. I wasn’t thinking so much about the protection aspect as kind of going with Em for moral support. Since it’s going to be required, it would save a trip, too,” I said. Well, I wasn’t having sex at the moment. It had been ten days since I was with Francie and Rachel was somewhere in a vaguely visible future. I hoped.
“That’s very nice, dear,” Mom jumped in before Dad could growl at me again. “I’ll make sure you are scheduled, too. See, Emily? Your little brother will have the nasty shot, too. Show him how brave you can be.” Em scowled and turned a baleful gaze upon me. Then we both busted up laughing and Em answered in a little girl voice.
“Yes, Mommy. Don’t be afraid, J. I’ll show you it doesn’t hurt at all!”
“Rachel, I was wondering… I mean, I’ve been enjoying our lunches together this week and… if you’re not doing anything this weekend… I mean on Saturday… afternoon… and evening… I wondered if you’d like to go out… with me.” The other girls were giggling as Rachel and I continued our roleplay.
“Oh! That’s nice of you to ask, Jacob. I haven’t been out with anyone since I moved here. I’ll have to ask my parents. What did you want to do?”
“Well, there’s a new arcade at City Center. I was thinking we could go spend some time there and you could show me how to shoot maybe. And none of the outdoor rides are open yet, but inside the pavilion, they have some fun rides like bumper cars and even a log flume. We could grab a burger and catch a show while we’re downtown.”
“Wow. That’s like a whole lot of dates rolled into one. What movie?”
“Well, maybe it seems silly, but Dumbo is released today. I thought we could see that if you don’t think it’s too childish, I mean.” She squealed.
“That’s so sweet! Yes! I mean… I’ll ask my parents, but I’m sure it would be okay. Um… call me tonight, okay?”
“Sure!”
I had more than a passing interest in a live-action Dumbo. V1 was four years old when the classic was released in 1941. I was taken—along with my older sister—to see the movie and was horrified. Disney had a way of telling a sweet story that could scare the hell out me. I was eighteen years old when I saw Lady and the Tramp and had nightmares about rats and Siamese cats for years.
It was a number of years later—late seventies, I suppose—that a great uncle I’d scarcely heard of had his one hundredth birthday. Dad had passed away and Mom was in poor health, so I was unanimously elected, by a vote of one to one, to represent the family at the birthday celebration. I remembered a few of my closest cousins but most of my father’s side of the family was shrouded in mystery. I had a beer in hand chatting to a cute second cousin twice removed and trying unsuccessfully not to have lecherous thoughts as another distant cousin who I vaguely remembered regaled Uncle Bill with the story of going to a Hallmark Cards store and asking for a card for a hundred-year-old. The clerk said, “We don’t have one for a hundred-year-old. How about two fifty-year-olds?” Without missing a beat, Uncle Bill exploded with a hand in the air. “I’ll take two fifty-year-olds!”
So, this same very drunk cousin finally found me. V1’s mother didn’t like any nicknames that could be applied to the name Jacob. Quite a difference from V2’s mother who couldn’t seem to remember my full name. But Mother V1 solved the problem by attaching a nickname to me in advance and for no apparent reason at all, I was called Bucky. But drunk cousin I don’t remember had a different take on the story. He was a few years—maybe ten—older than me.
“When you were born, you had the biggest ears anyone had seen on a baby. They flopped around like you were going to fly. So, we all started calling you Bucky because your ears were so big.”
That was curious to me. Not that I had large floppy ears. That was well-known. Classroom photos when I was in grade school showed a boy with hair cut so short it was invisible and ears that stuck straight out from his head. V1 had taken enough teasing by third grade to be over that. But, Bucky???
“So, you’re telling me that I had ears so big that people nicknamed me after an iconic beaver advertising toothpaste for his huge front teeth? Your skill at ridiculing people underwhelms me.” I left the party soon thereafter, not being able to get the cute second cousin twice removed extracted from it.
A live-action Dumbo? Yeah. That interested me.
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